The Trick Of The Mind: Programming and Computational Thought

Why should you read this book?
Because it will make you think like a programmer.

Do programmers really think differently?
Definitely! Programming is a skill that has enormous real-world payoffs. It gives you a whole new approach to solving problems and for finding the mistakes that inevitably crop up in your solutions.

Who should read this book?
Anyone and everybody! It is written to be easily understood and to introduce and explain the jargon of programming rather than intimidate you.

This book has been written with three audiences in mind:

• Those who have no immediate plans to learn a programming language but want to know why there is so much emphasis on being able to code. They will discover that knowing even a bit about programming makes them see the world in a different, and better, way.
• Those who are preparing to leap onto the coding bandwagon. This book will help them over the initial hurdles and give them a good grounding for whatever programming language they decide to learn first.
• Those who already write code, either as a hobby or professionally. They will appreciate the deeper ideas that underpin what they do.

The Trick of the Mind that this book explains something that isn’t discussed in books or included in a college course. So even if you were taught a programming language at school, at university or at work you may never have discovered what makes your skill as a programmer so amazing.

Having read this book you will understand what makes programming such a special skill and, even if you don’t want to write code yourself, you will see everyday problems in a new light and tackle them with the benefit of algorithmic thinking.

Mike James has a long career as a programmer and as the author of books and articles about programming. He has a PhD in computer science, a topic he taught at undergraduate level.

His recent books include Programmer’s Guide To Theory, Programmer’s Python, Deep C#, JavaScript Jems and
Programmer’s Guide to Kotlin.